Tips for Success - CELPIP Test Writing Section

An important element of your application to come to Canada is proven English (or French) language skills to demonstrate your ability to communicate comfortably with others in the country. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada only accepts CELPIP as an English language proficiency test. 

To improve your chances of coming to Canada, you want to obtain a high comprehensive ranking system score (CRS). The CRS takes into consideration occupation, family status, age, language skills, amongst other things. If you do well on the language exam, your overall points will be higher, and therefore, your chances of being invited to apply for a permanent residency will increase as well.

The CELPIP measures your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Writing can be a challenging part of the exam when English isn’t your first language. We’ve assembled a few tips to help make the writing portion of the CELPIP test easier.

Format of the Writing Portion of the CELPIP Test

The writing section of the test is 53 to 60 minutes long and includes writing an email as well as responding to questions. These questions may consist of information from the listening and reading components. Therefore, you will want to remember some of the information you heard or read earlier in the exam to complete the written portion, but brand new information may be included in this part of the exam as well.

You will be asked to complete two tasks: writing an email and a written response to a question. This CELPIP sample test shows you what to expect. Each of the two sections in this CELPIP sample test is a little less than 30 minutes long. In the first section, you will write a short email in response to an unfortunate experience at a restaurant. In the second task, you will respond to a survey and choose one of the two options presented to you. You will need to explain your reasons for your choice.

The writing portion of the exam you take won’t be identical to this CELPIP sample test, but it will be similar in that the written sections will be about as long and will require you to think about situations in a similar way, gather your thoughts and write short communications. There are other CELPIP study materials available online that allow you to see CELPIP writing samples, practice, and understand what to expect from your exam.

Tips for Practicing and Doing Better on the Writing Portion of the CELPIP Test

There are many ways to improve your English writing skills and score higher on the writing portion of your CELPIP test.

Some of them are as follows:

-        Find news or popular culture information in English and read or listen to them. Spend several minutes writing about what you learned. Try to capture the main points of the information and any supporting points. When you are done, compare what you wrote to the passage you read or listened to for accuracy.

-        Begin an English correspondence with a friend and have them ask questions about things you both know about. Continue to write in English while clarifying information and responding.

-        Keep reading and writing. Reading properly-written English will improve your writing skills as it will illustrate correct word usage, sentence structure, grammar, and so on. Practicing writing will give you confidence in your writing skills, especially as your CELPIP test day approaches.

Enroll in a CELPIP Prep program

If you’re not feeling confident about your English writing skills as you get closer to your CELPIP exam, you might want to consider taking a CELPIP preparation program.

Many education institutions offer courses to help you prepare for your CELPIP test. Look up CELPIP Vancouver for preparation courses. The benefit of taking these courses is that they are specifically designed to help you do better with your English language skills. You can choose the module you want to focus on: writing, listening, reading, or speaking. Alternatively, you can register for all four modules.

Additionally, exam preparation courses include CELPIP sample tests, CELPIP study materials to work with in-class as well as on your own to practice with. You’ll be able to ask your instructor for help with the work you do in class and to turn to when you need help with something you might be working on at home.

Even if you don’t take a preparation course, make sure you practise with as many sample CELPIP tests as possible. Find sample tests at the site along with other study materials and guides to help you.

Taking a timed sample test on a computer (which is how you’ll take your CELPIP exam) will also help you determine your preparation levels. It will help you decide your next steps: whether to keep practicing on your own, or to join a CELPIP prep program, or register for the test.

Know that you may find the CELPIP test challenging, but also know that you have the option of giving the test again if you aren’t pleased with your scores. Good luck.